News

CFM Team Takes Steps to End Alzheimer’s

CONCORD, N.C., September 18, 2004—The Cabarrus Family Medicine Memory Walk team raised $385 for the Alzheimer’s Association’s Western Carolina Chapter on Saturday, September 18. The total raised from all Walk participants was about $700, meaning that the CFM team brought in over half of the donations!

Participants in the walk included Henry Young, Cheryl Masters, Wes Teeter, Debbie Robinson, and Katie Robinson.

In addition to the pledges for the mile-long walk, Psychological and Behavioral Health sold pins made from forget-me-nots to raise additional money.

The money will be used for the chapter’s Parkinson’s disease support group, two dementia support groups and telephone help line.

Dr. Cheryl Masters, who headed up the CFM team, said, “We decided to form a team because we work with elderly patients and the family members who help take care of them. My personal investment in this project is because of the estimates that Alzheimer’s disease is expected to effect more than 14 million persons by 2050 and my awareness that for most it will destroy their memories, their livelihoods and eventually their futures.”

There are about 77,000 people with Alzheimer’s in the 49-county area covered by the Western Carolina Chapter, said Beth Croom, a program director for the chapter. When family members and other loved ones are considered, “there’s also four people affected for every person with dementia,” Croom said.

congress.